Satellites orbiting the Earth may be among the longest-lasting things humans have created. With this in mind, artist Trevor Paglen is launching into space a set of 100 photographs attached to a communications satellite. The photos are engraved on a chip that should last for billions of years. The Last Pictures may well outlive human existence on Earth. If they should be discovered millions of years from now, what will be made of them?
All images courtesy of Trevor Paglen and Creative Time

Working out how to make a disc of images into a sound archive for billions of years was one of the project's biggest challenges. Paglen sought help from scientists at MIT who jumped at such an impractical challenge, says curator Nato Thompson. "Sometimes artists can provide scientists with questions they wouldn't come across in normal life," he says.
The irony of sending the images into space etched on a telecoms satellite was not lost on Paglen. The satellite will transmit millions of images per hour back to Earth during its functioning lifetime – in stark contrast to the carefully selected photos it could carry deep into the future.